My Little Love
by FireBunny098
Summary: -ON A LONG HIATUS- She has to do anything he wants...for five million dollars. He'll make sure she earns every last cent... raiXkim AU
1. Summary

**Hello a new stroy here. I wrote this and I decided I should just put it on here. The full (sum) is below. This is a AU, rating may change later.**

_Kimiko Tohomiko's little boy is in danger, and the only person who can help is his father, Brazilian billiionaire Raimundo Pedrosa. Raimundo doesn't know his son even exists, and believes Kimiko to be a lying gold digger. However, he's prepared to give her money-provided she sleeps with him. Only Kimiko's no longer the naive virgin he bedded years ago...and she's about to make him lose control in ways he never imagined......._

Hey I changed my name from raikim-19-4-ever to mizz-luv-U2-4eva, cheak it on my profile. Also I re-uploaded this story cuz it had speeling errors and I wanted to fix it!

**R&R!!!!!!!**


	2. Seven Years

**CHAPTER ONE : 7 YEARS**

_She'd never known fear like it._

Breathing so rapidly that she felt light-headed, Kimiko stood in the imposing glass-walled boardroom on the executive floor of Pedrosa Investments, staring down at the throbing, vibrant streets of Rio de Janeiro.

The waiting was torture.

Everything rested on the outcome of this visit...._everything_....and the knowledge made her legs weaken and her insides knot with vicious tension.

It was ironic, she thought helplessly, that the only person who could help her now was the one man she'd sworn never to see again.

Forcing herself to breath steadily, she closed her eyes for a moment and tried to modify her expectations. He'd probably refuse to see her.

People didn't just arrive unannounced and gain access to a man like Raimundo Pedrosa.

She was only sitting here now because his personal assistant had taken pity on her. Stammering out her request to see him, Kimiko had been so pale and anxious that the older woman had become quite concerned and had insisted that she should sit and wait in the privacy of the air-conditioned boardroom. Having brought her a large glass of water, the assistant had given her a smile and assured her that Mr Pedrosa really wasn't as dangerous as his reputation suggested.

But Kimiko knew differently. Raimundo Pedrosa wasn't just dangerous, he was lethal and she knew that it was going to take more than water to make her face the man on the other side of that door.

What was she going to say?

How was she going to tell him?

_Where was she going to start?_

She couldn't appeal to his sense of decency or his conscieence because he possessed neither. Helping others wasn't high on his agenda. He _used _people and, more especially, he used women. She knew that better than anyone. Pain ripped through her as she remembered just how badly he'd treated her. He was a ruthless, self-sekking billionaire with only one focus in his life. The pursuit of pleasure.

_And for a short, blissful time, she'd been his pleasure._

Her heart felt like a heavy weight in her chest. Looking back on it now, she couldn't believe how naive she'd been. _How Trusting. _As an idealistic, romantic eighteen-year-old, she'd been willing and eager to share every single part of herself with him. She'd held nothing back because she'd seen no reason to hold anything back. He'd been the one. Her everything. _And she was his nothing. _

She curled her fingers into her palms and reminded herself that the objective of today was not to rehash the past. She was going to have to put aside the memory of the pain, the panic and the bone-deep humiliation she'd suffered as a result of his cruel and careless rejection.

None of that mattered now.

There was only one thing that mattered to her, _only one person, _and for the sake of that person she was going to bite her tounge, smile, beg or do whatever it took to ingratiate herself with Raimundo Pedrosa, because there was no way she was leaving Brazil without the money she needed.

It was a matter of life and death.

She paced the length of the room, trying to formulate some sort of plan in her mind, trying to work out a reasonable way to ask for five million dollars from a man who had absolutely no feelings for her.

How was she going to tackle the subject?

How was she going to tell him she was in serious trouble?

_And how could she make him care?_

She felt a shaft of pure panic and then the door opened and he strolled in the room unannounced, the sun glinting on his dark brown hair, his face hard, handsome and unsmiling.

And Kimiko realised that she was in even more trouble than she'd previously thought.

_She looked like baby deer caught in an ambush._

Without revealing any of his thoughts, Raimundo surveyed the slender, impossibly beautiful raven-head who stood shivering and pale on the far side of his boardroom.

She looked so frightened that he almost found it possible to feel sorry for her. Except that he knew to much about her.

And if he were in her position, he'd be shaking, too.

She had one hell of a nerve, coming here!

Seven Years.


	3. Accusation

He hadn't see Kimiko Tohomiko for seven years and _still_ she had the ability to seriously disturb his day.

Endless legs, silken hair, soft mouth and a wide, trusting smile.

For a time she'd truly had him fooled with that loving, giving, generous act that she'd perfected. Accustomed to being with women who were as sophisticated and calculating as himself, he'd been charmed and captived by Kimiko's innocence, openness and her almost childlike honesty.

It was the first and only occasion in his adult life when he'd made a serious error of jugdement.

_She was a greedy little gold-digger._

He knew that now. And she knew that he knew.

So what could possibly have possessed her to throw herself in his path again?

She was either very brave, or very, _very_ stupid. He strolled towards her, watching her flinch and tremble and decided that she didn't look particularly brave.

Which just left stupid.

_Or desperate?_

Kimiko stood with her back to the wall and wondered how she could have forgotten the impact that Raimundo Pedrosa had on women. _How could she have ever thought she could hold a man like him?_

Time had somehow dimmed the memory and the reality was enough to stun her into a temporary silence.

She was tall but he was taller. His shoulders were broad, his physique lithe and athletic and his dark, dangerous looks alone were enough to make a women forget her own name. The truth was that, even among a race renowned for handsome men, Raimundo stood out form the crowd.

She stared at him with almost agonizing awareness as he strolled towards her, her eyes sliding over the wavy dark brown hair, those thick lashes that sheilded brooding, dark emeraled green eyes and down to the darkened jaw of a man who seemed to embody everything it meant to be masculine. He was dressed formally in standered business attire but even the tailored perfection of his dark suit couldn't entirely disguise a nature that barded on the very edges of civilised. Although he moved in a conventional world, Raimundo could never be described as 'safe' and it was that subtle hint of danger that added to his almost overwhelming appeal.

His attraction to the oppisite sex was as powerful as it was predictable and she'd proved herself to be as susceptible as the rest when it came to his particular brand of lethal charm.

Feeling her heart pound against her chest. She wondered wether she'd been mad to come here.

She didn't move in his leage and she never had. They played a completely different set of rules.

And then she reminded herself firmly that she wasn't here for herself. Given the choice she never would have come near Raimundo again. But he was her only hope.

"Raimundo." His eyes mocked her in that lazy, almost bored way that she used to find both aggravating and seductive. "Very formal. You used to call me Rai."

He spoke with a cultured male drawl that held just a hint of the dark and dangerous. The staggeringly successful international businessman mingled with the raw, rough boy from the streets.

There was enough of the hard and the tough and the ruthless in him to make her shiver. Of course he was tough and ruthless, she reasoned, trying to control the exaggerated response of her trembling body. Rumor had it that he'd dragged himself from the streets of Rio before building one of the biggest multinational businesses in the world.

"That's in the past." And she didn't want to remember the past. Didn't want to remember the times she'd cried out his name as he'd shown her yet another way to paradise.

He raised an eyebrow and from the look in his dark eyes she knew that he was experiencing the same memories. The temperature in the room rose by several degrees and the air began to crackle and hum. "And is that what this meeting is about? You want closure? You have come to beg forgiveness and repay the money you stole?"

It was typical of him that the first thing he mentioned was the money.

_For a moment her courage faltered._

"I know it was wrong to use your credit cards-" she licked her lips "-but I had a good reason...." She broke off and the carefully prepared speech that she'd rehearsed and rehearsed in her head dissolved into nothing and suddenly she couldn't think how on earth she was going to say what needed to be said.

_Now, _she urged herself frantically, _tell him now!_

But somehow the right words just wouldn't come.

"You _did _give me the credit cards-" She managed to say, but was cut off.

"One of the perks of being with me, "Raimundo said silkily, "-but when you spent the money, you were no longer with me. I have to congratulate you. I thought that no women had the ability to surprise me-" he paced around her, his voice a soft, lethal drawl. "-and yet you did just that. During our relationship you spent nothing. You showed no interrest in my money. At the time I thought you were unique amongst your sex. I found your lack of interest in material things particularly endearing." His toned hardened. " Now I see that you were in fact just clever. Very clever. You held back on your spending but once you realised that the relationship was over, you showed your true colours."

Kimiko's mouth fell open in a genuine amazement.

Just what the _hell _was he implying?

**PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 3**

_"I was innocent-" She yelled._

_His breath warmed her mouth and he gave a slow, sexy s__mile that made her heart thud hard against her chest. "You were desperate." he whispered._

_He was going to kiss her........._

_It was now. It had to be now. "I'm here because-" her voice craked and she licked her dry lips and tried again. "I'm trying to tell you...w...we had a son together, Rai, and he's now six years old." Her heart pounded and her body trembled. "He's six years old and his life is in danger. I'm here becuase I need your help..........I've no one slse to turn to."_

**R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)**


	4. Innocence

**Hey sorry it took song long to update! I had to change my name and re-do some errors on the story! The characters are different, this is an AU, it says so in the sum. Also Raimundo is being a jerk because he thinks Kimiko stole from him. Thank you all for waiting so long! Here is the 4th chapter! R&R!!!!!!!!! Warning: Sexual Suggestions and other things!**

It was _definitely _time to tell him the truth. "I can explain where the money went..." She braced herself for the ultimate confession but he gave a dismissive shrug that indicated nothing short of total indifference.

"If there is one occupation more boring than watching a woman shop, it's hearing about it after the event." Raimundo's tone was bored. "I have absolutely no interest in the finer details of feminine indulgence."

"Is that what you think it was?" Kimiko stared at him, aghast. "You think I spent your money in some sort of childish female tantrum?"

"So you cheered yourself up with some new shoes and handbags." He gave a sardonic smile. It is typically female behaviour. I can assure you I'm no stranger to the perceived benifits of retail therapy."

Kimiko gasped. "You are unbelievably insensitive!" Her voice rang with passion, anger and pain and her carefully planned speech flew out of her brain. He thought she'd been _shopping? _"Shopping was the last thing on my mind! This was _not _retail therapy." Her whole body trembled with indignation. "This was _survival. _I needed the money to survive because I gave up everything to be with you. _Everything. _I gave up my job, my flat..._I moved in with you. _It was what you demanded."

His gaze was cool. "I don't recall a significant degree of protest on your part."

She tilted her head back and struggled with her emotions.

"I was in love with you Rai." Her voice cracked and she paused for just long enough to regain control. "I was _so _in love with you that being together was the only thing in my life that made sense. I couldn't see further than what we shared. I certainly couldn't imagine a time when we wouldn't be together."

"Women do have a tendency to hear wedding bells when they're around me." he observed dryly. "In fact I would say, the larger the wallet, the louder the bells."

"I'm not talking about marriage. I didn't _care _about marriage. I just cared about _you._"

A muscle flickered in his lean jaw and his eyes hardened.

"Obviously you were planning for the long term."

It took her a moment to understand the implacation of his words. "You're suggesting it was an act?" She gave a tiny laugh of disbelief and lifted her hand to her throat. Beneath the tips of her fingers she felt her pulse beating rapidly. "You think I was pretending?"

"You were very convincing," Raimundo conceded after a moment's reflection, "but then the stakes were high, were they not? The prospect of landing a billonaire is often sufficient to produce the most commendable acting skills in a woman."

Kimiko stared at him.

How could she have ever been foolish enough to give her love to this man? Was her judgement really that bad?

Tears clogged her throat. "I don't consider you to be the biggest mistake of my life."

"Of course you do." He spread lean bronzed hands and gave a sympathetic smile, but his eyes were hard as flint. "I can understand that you'd be kicking yourself for letting me slip through your fingers. All I can say is, better luck with the next guy."

"To be alone in life, Rai," she said flatly, battling not to let the emotion show on her face, "and every woman with a grain of sense is going to let you slip right through her fingers. Given the chance, I'd drop you head first on to a tiled floor from great height."

He smiled an arrogant, all male smile that reflected his unshakeable self-confidence. "We both know you couldn't get enough of me."

She gasped, utterly humiliated by the picture he painted.

"That was before I knew what an unfeeling, cold-hearted bastard you were!" She broke off in horror, _appalled _by her rudeness and uncharacteristic loss of control. What had come over her? "I-I'm sorry, that was unforgivable....."

"Don't apologise for showing your true colors." Far from being offended, he looked mildly amused. "Believe it or not, I prefer honesty in a woman. It saves all sorts of misunderstandings."

She lifted a hand to her forehead in an attept to relieve the ache between her temples.

It had been so hard for her to come here. So hard to brace herself to tell him the things that he needed to know. And so far none of it had gone as planned.

She had things that had to be said and she just didn't know how to say them. Insted of talking about the present, they were back in the past and that was the one place she didn't want to be. Unless she could use the past to remind him of what they'd once shared....

"You cared, Rai," she said softly, her hands dropping to her sides in a helpless gesture. "I _know _you cared. I felt it."

She appealed to the man that she'd once believed him to be.

"I was very turned on by the fact I was your first lover," he agreed in a smooth tone. "In fact I was totally knocked out by the novelty of the experience. Naturally I was keen for you to enjoy it too. You were very shy and it was in both our interests for you to be relaxed. I did what needed to be done and said what needed to be said."

Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. In other words he was so experienced with women that he knew exactly which buttons to press. In her case he'd sensed that she needed closeness and affaction. _It hadn't meant anything to him._

"So your saying it was all an act?" The pain inside her blossomed. "Being loving and gentale was just another of your many seduction methods?"

He shrugged as if he could see no problem with tthat. "I didn't hear you complaining."

She closed her eyes. How could she have been so gullible?

Yes, she'd been a virgin but that was no excuse for bald stupidty. Sixteen years of living with a man like her father should have taught her everything she needed to know about men. He'd moved from one woman to another, never making a commitment, never giving anything anything. Just using. using and discarding. Her mother had walked out just after Kimiko's fourth birthday and from that moment on she had a series of 'Aunties', women who came into her father's life and then left with a volley of hsouts and jealous accusations. Kimiko had promised herself that she was never, _ever _going to let a man treat her the way her father treated women. She was going to find one man and she was going to love him.

And then she'd met Raimundo and for a short, crazy period of time she'd thought he was that man. She'd ignored his reputation with women, ignored any similarities to her father, ignored her promise to herself.

She'd broken all her own rules.

And she'd paid the price.

"What did I ever do to make you treat me so cruelly?"

Suddenly she needed to understand. Wanted to know what hade gone wrong...how she could have made such a enormous mistake. "Why did you need other women?"

"I've never been a one women kind of guy," he admitted without a trace of apology or regret, "and you're all pretty much the same, as you went on to prove with your truly awesome spending spree."

She flinched. This would be a perfect time to confess. To tell him exactly _why _she'd needed the money so badly. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the truth. "I spent your money because I needed it for somthing very important," she said hesitantly, "and before I tell you exactly what, I want you to know that I _did _try to talk to you at the time but you wouldn't see me, and..."

"Is this conversation going anywhere?" He glanced at his watch in a gesture of supreme boredom. "I've already told you that your spending habits don't intrest me. And if you'd needed funds then maybe you should have tapped your other lover for cash."

She gasped. "I didn't _have _other lovers. you _know _I didn't."

There'd only ever been him. Just him.

"I don't know anything of the kind." his eyes hardened.

"on two occasions I returned home to be told you were "out"."

"Because I was tired of lying in our bed waiting for you to come home from some other women's arms!" She exploded with exasperation, determined to defend herself. "Yes, I went out! And you just couldn't stand that, could you? And why not? Because you _always _have to be the one in control."

"It wasn't about control." His gaze simmered, dark with all the volatility of his exotic heritage. "You didn't need to leave. You were _mine._"

_And he thought it wasn't about control?_

"You make me sound like a possession!" Her voice rang with pain and frustration. She was _trying _to say what needed to be said but each time she tried to talk about the present they seemed to end up back in the past. "You treat every woman like a possession! To be used and discarded when you've had enough! That's why our relationship never would have worked. You're ruthless, self-seeking and totally without morals or thought for other people. You expected me to lie there and wait for you to finish partying and come home!"

"Insted of which, you decided to expaned your sexual horizons," he said coldly and she resisted the temptation to leap and claw at his hansome face.

How could such an intelligent, successful man be so dense about women? He couldn't see past the end of his nose.

"You went out, so I went out." Wisps of hair floated across her face and she brushed them away with an impatient hand.

"What was I supposed to do when you weren't there?"

"You were supposed to get some rest." he delivered in silky tones, "and wait for me to come home."

Neanderthal man. She was expected to wait in the cave for the hunter to return.

Exasperated beyond belief, she resisted the urge to walk out and slam the door. "This is the twenty-first century, Rai! Women vote. They run companies. They decide their own social lives."

"And they cheat on their partners." He gave a sadonic lift of his brows. "progress, Indeed."

"I did _not _cheat!" She stared at him in outrage, wondering how such an intelligent man could be so dense when it came to relationships. _She'd loved him so much. _"You were the one photographed in a restaurant with another woman. Clearly I wasn't enough for you." She gave a casual shrug and tried to keep the pain out of her voice. "Naturally I assumed that if you were seeing other people then I could do the same. But I did not cheat!"

"I don't want the details."

They were closing in on each other. A step here, a slight movment there.

"Well, prehaps you should, insted of jumping to conclusions," she suggested shakily, "and if a sin was commited then it was yours, Rai. I was eighteen years old and yet you seduced me without even a flicker of conscience. And then you moved on without a flicker of conscience. Tell me...did you give it any thought? before you took my virginity and wrecked my life, _did you give it any thought?_"

His dark gaze sweot over her with naked incredulity. "You have been back in my life for five minutes and already you are snapping and snarling and hurling accusations. You were only to willing to be seduced, my raven-haired angel, but if you've forgotton that fact then I'm happy to jog your memory." Without warning he closed his lean brown fingers around her wrist and jerked her hard against him. The connection was immediate and powerful.

"That first night, in the back of my car when you wrapped that amazing body of yours around mine..." his voice was a low, dangerous purr and the warmth of his breath teased her mouth. ".....was that not an invatation?"

The air around them crackeled and sparked with tension.

She tugged at her wrist but he held her easily and she remembered just how much she'd loved that about him. His strength. His vibrant, undiluted masculinity. In fact she'd positively relished the differences between them. His dark male power to her feminine softness. _Her good to his very, very bad._

He was _so _strong and she'd always felt increibly safe when she was with him. At the beginning that had been part of the attraction. Particulary that first night, as he'd just re-minded her. "I'd been attacked. I was frightened..."

And he'd rescued her. Using street fighting skills that didn't go with the sleek dinner jacket he'd been wearing, he'd taken on six men and had extracted her with apparently very little damage to himself. As a tactic deisgned to impress a woman, it had proved a winner.

"So you wanted comfort." His grip on her wrist tightened.

"So when you slid on to my lap and begged me to kiss you, was that not an invatation Kimi? Or was that comfort too?"

Hot colour of morification flooded her smooth cheeks. "I don't know what happened to me that night..."

she'd taken one look at him and suddenly believed in fairy tales. Knights. Dragons. Maidens in distress. _He was the one._

Or so she'd thought....

"You discovered your true self," he said roughly. "That's what happened. So don't accuse me of seducing you when we both know that I only took what you freely offered. You were hot for me and you stayed hot..."

"_I was innocent..._"

His breath warmed her mouth and he gave a slow, sexy smile that made her heart thud against her chest. "You were desperate."

_He was going to kiss her._

She reconised the signs, saw the darkening of his eyes and the lowering of those thick lashes as his heated gaze swept her flushed face.

The tension throbbed and pulsed between them and then suddenly he released her with a soft curse and took a step backwards.

"So why are you here?" His tone was suddenly icy cold, and there was anger in the glint of his dark eyes. "You wish to reminisce? you are hoping for a repeat performance, perhaps? If so, you should probably know that women only get one chance in my bed and you lew it."

_A repeat perfomance?_

Erotic memories flashed through her brain and she took a step backwards, as if to escape from them. "Let's get this straight." Despite all her best efforts, her voice shook slightly. "_Nothing _would induce me to climb back into your bed, Rai. Nothing. That was one life experience I have no intention of repeating. Ever. I'm not that stupid."

He stilled and a look of masculine speculation flickered across his handsome face. "Is that a fact?"

Too late she relised that a man like Raimundo would probably consider that a challenge. And he was a man who loved a challenge.

She looked at him helplessly, wondering how on earth the conversation had developed into this. For some reason they were right back where they left off seven years before and it wasn't what she planned.

She'd intended to be cool and businesslike and to avoid anything remotely personal. Insted of which, their verbal exchange had so far been entirely personal.

And still she hadn't told him what she needed to tell him.

Still she hadn't said what needed to be said.

He prowled around her slowly and a slighty mocking smile touched his firm mouth. "Still so much passion, Kimiko, and still trying to hold it in cheak and pretend it doesn't exist. That it isn't even a part of you and yet how could your nature be anything else?" He brushed a hand over her hair with a mocking smile.

Kimiko lifted her chin and her blue eyes flashed. "Never get involved with a man who has the ego the size a Brazil!"

He laughed. "Ours was never the most tranquil of relationships, was it _meu amorzinho?_"

_Meu amorzinho. _He'd always called her that and she'd loved hearing him speak in his native language. It had semed so much more exotic than the English translation, _'My Little Love.'_

**PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 5**

_Before she could guess his intention, he lifted a lean bronze hand and in a deft, skillful movement removed the clip from her hair. _

_To her horror she felt her body start to melt and her breathing grow shallow and she shrank away from him, desperate to stop the reaction._

_How?_

_How, after these years and all the thinking time she'd had, could she still react to this man?_

_Did she ever learn?_

_It was now. It had to be now. "I'm here because-" her voice craked and she licked her dry lips and tried again. "I'm trying to tell you...w...we had a son together, Rai, and he's now six years old." Her heart pounded and her body trembled. "He's six years old and his life is in danger. I'm here becuase I need your help..........I've no one slse to turn to."_

**I am so tired I stayed up for hours! Thanks and please R&R!!!!!!!!!! Lot of stuff coming up in the next chapter!**


	5. Our Son

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OMG!!!!!! Raimundo was right it took forever for me to update!!!! I am super sorry guys just tell me if there is somthing I could do to make up for my lateness. Thank You for wating this long! =) 5th chapter!!!

**ENJOY!!!**

**I do **_NOT_** own Xiaolin Showdown....If I did I wouldn't Be here!**

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**:::Previous:::**

_He prowled around her slowly and a slighty mocking smile touched his firm mouth. "Still so much passion, Kimiko, and still trying to hold it in cheak and pretend it doesn't exist. That it isn't even a part of you and yet how could your nature be anything else?" He brushed a hand over her hair with a mocking smile._

_Kimiko lifted her chin and her blue eyes flashed. "Never get involved with a man who has the ego the size a Brazil!"_

_He laughed. "Ours was never the most tranquil of relationships, was it **meu amorzinho**?"_

_**Meu amorzinho**. __He'd always called her that and she'd loved hearing him speak in his native language. It had semed so much more exotic than the English translation, **'My Little Love.'**_

**:::Continued:::**

His unexpected laughter released some of the throbbing tension in the room and she felt the colour flood into her face as she remembered, too late, that she'd promised herself she wasn't going to fight with him. She couldn't afford to fight with him. "We both need to forget the past." Determined not to let him unsettle her, she took a deep breath and tried to find the tranquillity that usually came naturally to her. "Both of us have moved on. I'm not the same person anyomre."

"You're exactly the sam eperson, Kimiko." He strolled around her, like a jungle animal assessing its prey. "Inside, people never really change. It's just the packaging that's different. The way they present themselves to the world."

Before she could guess his intention, he lifted a lean bronze hand and in a deft, skillful movment removed the clip from her hair.

She gasped a protest and clutched at the soft raven curls that tumbled over her shoulders. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Altering the packaging. Reminding you who you really are under the costume you're wearing." His burning gaze slid lazily down her body. "You came in here; suitably dressed to teach a class of schoolchildren or sort books in a library, that silky raven hair all twisted away and tamed. On the outside you are all buttoned up and locked away, yet we both know what sort of person you are on the inside." His dark eyes fixed on hers and his voice was rich and seductive. "Passionate. Wild."

His tongue rolled over the words, his accent more pronounced than usual, and she felt her stomach flip over and her knees weaken.

"You're wrong! That's not who I am! You have no idea who I am." Despite her promise to herself that she'd remain cool, she couldn't hold back the emotion. "Did you really think I'd be the pathetic little girl you seduced all those years ago? Do you really think I haven't changed?"

Despite her heated denials, she felt a flash of sexual awareness that appalled her and she squashed it down with grim determination.

She wasn't going to let him do this to her again. She wasn't going to feel anything.

She'd come here to tell him somthing she should have told him seven years ago, not to resurrect feelings that she'd taken years to bury.

"You weren't pathetic and neither-" he said softly, touching a curl of raven hair, "-did I seduce you determined though you seem to be believe that. Our passion was as mutual as it was hot, _meu amorzinho. _You were with me all the way." He said the words 'all the way' with smooth, erotic emphasis that started a slow burn deep within her pelvis. "The only difference between us was that you were ashamed of how you felt. I assumed that maturity would allow you to embrace your passionate nature insted of rejecting it."

To her horror she felt her body start to melt and her breathing grow shallow and she shrunk away from him, desperate to stop the reaction.

_How?_

How, after all these years and all the thinking time she'd had, could she still react to this man?

Did she never learn?

And then she remembered that she _had _learned. The hard way. And it didn't matter how her body responded to this man, this time her brain was in charge. She was older and more experienced and well able to ignore the insidious curl of sexual desire deep in her pelvis.

"This isn't what I came here for." She lifted a hand to her hair and smoothed it away from her face. "What happened between you and me isn't important."

"So you keep saying. So what _is _so important enough to bring you all the way back to Rio de Janerio when you left and swore never to return, I wonder? Our golden beaches? Our dramatic mountains?" His voice rich accent rolled over the words. "The addictive beat of tha samba? I recall that evening that we danced on my terrace...."

He flicked memories in front of her like a slide show and she looked away for a moment, forcing herslef to focus on somthing bland and inanimate, trying to dilute the disturbing images in her head. The chair drew the full force of her gaze while she composed herself and plucked up the courage to say what she had to say.

"I want us to stop talking about the past." She paused for a moment and flet her knees turn to liquid. It was now. It had to be now. "I'm here because....." Her voice cracked and she licked dry lips and tried again. "I'm trying to tell you...w-we had a son together, Rai, and he's now six years old." Her heart pounded and her body trembled. "He's six years old and his life is in danger. I'm here because I need your help. I've no one else to turn to."

_How could silence seem so loud?_

Was he ever going to speak?

Relief that she'd finally told him mingled apprehension. What was he going to say? How was he goign to react to the sudden discovery that he was a father?

"Well, that's inventive." His tone was flat and he sprawled in the nearest chair, his eyes veiled as he watched her, always the one in control, always the one calling the shots. "You certainly know how to keep a guy on his toes. I never know what you're going to come up with next."

Kimiko blinked, totally taken aback.

_He didn't believe her?_

She'd prepared herself for anger recrimination. She'd braced herself to be on the receiving end of his hot Brazilian temper. She'd been prepared to explain why she hadn't told him seven years before. But it hadn't once crossed her mind that he might not believe her.

"You seriously think I'd joke about somthing like that?"

He gace a casual shrug. "I admit it's in pretty poor taste, but some women will stoop to just about anything to get a man to fork out. And I presume that's what you would want? More money?"

It was exactly what she wanted but not for any of the reasons he seemed to be implying.

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**I'm gunna say it....Raimundo You are an ass...**

**okay tell me if you like it!!!**

**R&R!!!! Heres a preview of whats coming soon!**

**LEMON COMING SOON TOO...should I change rating???**

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_He still didn't believe her._

"Last week I received a kidnap threat." Her voice shook as she said the the truth would shake him out of his infuriating cool.

Instantly his gaze trapped hers and the temperature in the room rose still further.

"Show me the letter."

Did she imagine the sudden rough tone to his voice?

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**Oh yeah does ne 1 know some names for the son?????**

**Please help with that.....=)**


	6. Trusting You

Well it has been a _very _long time since I have last updated. I have been busy, it's summer, and I am trying to have fun. XD So let me say people have been sending me messages saying that they want me to write more of this story. Well here you go. :) Hope you enjoy it!

**ENJOY!**

**I do **_NOT_** own Xiaolin Showdown...If I did I wouldn't Be here!**

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**:::Previous:::**

_Kimiko blinked, totally taken aback._

_**He didn't believe her?**_

_She'd prepared herself for anger recrimination. She'd braced herself to be on the receiving end of his hot Brazilian temper. She'd been prepared to explain why she hadn't told him seven years before. But it hadn't once crossed her mind that he might not believe her._

_"You seriously think I'd joke about somthing like that?"_

_He gace a casual shrug. "I admit it's in pretty poor taste, but some women will stoop to just about anything to get a man to fork out. And I presume that's what you would want? More money?"_

_It was exactly what she wanted but not for any of the reasons he seemed to be implying._

**:::Continued:::**

Her mouth opened and shut and she swallowed hard, totally out of her depth. She hadn't even entertained the possibility that he wouldn't believe her nad she honestly didn't know what to say next. She'd geared herslef up for this moment and it wasn't going according to her script.

"_Why _wouldn't you believe me?"

"Possibly because women don't suddenly turn up after seven years of silence and announce that they're pregnant."

"I didn't say I as p-pregnant," she stammered, appalled and frustrated that he refused to take her seriously. "I told you, he's _six_ idiot. He was born precisely forty weeks after we had...after you..." She broke off, blushing furiously, and his gaze dropped to her mouth, lingered and then lifted again.

"After I had my wicked way with you? You're so repressed you can't even bring yourself to say the word 'sex'." His dark emerald green eyes mocked her gently and she bite her lip, wishing she was more sophisticated...better equipped to deal with this sort of situation. Verbal sparring wasn't her forte and yet she was dealing with a master.

He'd wronged her and yet suddenly she felt as though she should be apologising. "You're probably wondering why I didn;t tell you this before-"

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"You threw me out, Rai," She remembered him in a shaky voice, "-and you refused to see me or take my calls. You treated me _abominably_."

"Relationships end everyday of the week." he drawled in a tone of total indifference. "Stop being so dramatice."

_"I was pregnant!" _She rose to her feet, shaking with emoation, goaded into action by his total lack of remorse. "I decided that you ought to know about your child. I tried to tell you so many times but you cut me out of your life. _And you hurt me. _You hurt me so badly that I decided that no child of mine was going to have you as a father. And _that's _why I didn't tell you." She broke off, waiting for an angry reaction on his part, waiting for him to storm and rant that she hadn't told him sooner.

Instead he raised and eyebrow expectantly. "Seven years and this is the best you could come up with?"

She stared at him blankly, unable to comprehend his callous indifference. "Do you think i made that decision lightly? _Have you any idea what making a decision like that does to a person? _I felt screwed up with guilt, Rai! I was depriving my son of a father and I knew that one day I'd have to answer him for that." She broke off and dragged a shuddering breath into her starving lungs. "I have felt guilty every single day for the last seven years. _Every single day._"

"Yes, well, that's another women thing...guilt," Raimundo said helpfully, "-and I suppose that all this _guilt _suddenly over whelmed you and that's why you've suddnely decided to share your joyous news with me?"

She shook her head. "I can't _believe _you're behaving like this. Do you _know _how hard it was for me to come here today? _Have you any idea?_" He was even more unfeeling than she'd believed possible. How could she feel guilt? She should be _proud _that she protected her son from this man. But the time for protection had passed and, unfortunately for everyone, she now needed his help. She couldn't afford the luxury of cutting him out of her life. "What do I have to do to prove that I'm telling the truth?"

Raimundo turned his head and glanced towards the door expectantly. "Produce him." He lifted broad shoulders in a careless shrug. "That should do the trick."

She looked at him in disbelief. "You seriously think I'd drag a six-year-old all the way to Brazil to meet a man who doesn't even know he's a father? This is a huge thing, Rai. We need to discuss how we're going to handle it. How wer're going to tell him. It needs to be a joint decision."

There was a sardonic gleam in his dark eyes. "Well. that's goign to be a problem, isn't it? I don't do joint decisions. Never have, never will. I'm unilateral all the way, _meu amorzinho. _But in this case it really doesn't matter because we both know that this so called 'son' of yours, oh, sorry-" he corrected himself with an apologetic smile and a lift of his hand "-I should say son of _'ours'_, shouldn't I? Is a figment of your greedy, money-grabbing imagination. So it would be impossible for you to produce him. Unless you hired someone to play the part. Have you?"

Kimiko gaped at him.

_He was an utter bastard!_

How could she have forgotten just how cold and unfeeling he was? What a low opinion of women he had? How could she have thought, even for a moment, that she'd made a mistake in not presisting in her attempts to tell him that she was expecting his child? At the time she'd decided that she could never expose a child of hers to a man like him and, listening to him now, she knew that it had _definitely _been the right decision.

People had criticised her behind her back, she knew that, but they were people who came from safe, loving homes...homes where the father came home at night and cared about what happened to his family.

Raimundo Pedrosa wasn't like that. Raimundo didn't care about anything or anyone except himself.

He was _just _like her father and she knew only too well what it was like to grow up with a parent like that. She'd been right to protect her child from him and if it hadn't been for her current crisis she would have continued to keep Rai out of his life.

But fate had intervened and she'd decided that she had no choice but to tell him. He _had _to help her. He _had _to take some responsibility, however distasteful he found the prospect of parenthood.

But at the moment he didn't even believe that his son existed...

He seemed to think that their child was some sort of figment of her imagination.

She sank on t the nearest chair, bemused and sickened by his less than flattering assessment of her. "Why do you have such a low opinion of me?"

"Well, let's see-" he gave a patient smile, as if he was dealing with someone very, _very, _stupid. "-it could have something to do with the volume of money you spent after we broke up. Or the fact that you're now stooping to the depths previously unheard of in order to sue me for maintenance. _Not _the actions of someone destined for sainthood, wouldn't you agree?"

She stared at him blankly. Her mind didn't work along the same lines as his and she was struggling to keep up. "I'm not suing you for maintenance."

He gave an impatient frown. "You want me to pay money for the child?"

She licked her lips. "Yes, but not to _me _and it's nothing to do with maintanance. I can support our son. I took the money from you because I was pregnant, alone and very scared and I couldn't think how I could possibly bring a child into the world when I didn;t even have somewhere to live. I used your money to buy a small flat. If I hadn't donw that I would have had to find a job and put the baby into a nursery, and I wanted to care for him myself. And I bought a few essentials." She gave a tiny frown, momentarily distracted. "I had no idea how many things a baby needed. I bought a cot and a pushchair, bedding, nappies, I didn't use any of the money on myself. I _know _that technically it was stealing, but I didn't know what else to do so I told myself it was maintenance. If I'd chased you through the courts you would have had to pay a lot more to support Rio."

One dark eyebrow swooped upwards. "_Rio_?"

She blushed. "I chose to name him after the city where he was conceived."

"How quaint." Raimundo's tone was a deep, dark drawl loaded with undertones of menace. "So if I've already paid for the pushchair and the nappies, what else is there? He needs a new school coat, prehaps? His feet have grown and his shoes no longer fit?"

_He still didn't believe her._

"Last week I received a kidnap threat." Her voice shook as she said the words. Prehaps the truth would shake him out of his infuriating cool. "Someone out there knows about our son. They know you're the father. And they're threatening Rio's life."

There was a long silence while he watched her, his dark eyes fixed on her pale face.

They were sitting to close to each other. _Much too close._

Her knee brushed against his and she felt the insidious warmth of awareness spread through her body. Against her will, her eyes slid to the silken brown hairs visible, lightly hanging in his eyes. After following his strong arms, down to his strong fingers. _thos long, clever fingers._

Her body flooded with heat as she remembered hos those fingers had introduced her to intimacies that she'd never before imagined and she shifted slightly in her chair. His eyes detected the movement. Instantly his gaze trapped hers and the temperature in the room rose still further.

"Show me the letter."

Did she imagine the sudden rough tone to his voice?

Relieved that she could finally meet one of his demands, she delved into her bag and dragged out the offending letter, dropping it on the table next to him as if it might bite her.

He extended a hand and lifted the letter, no visible sense of urgency apparent in his movements. He flipped it open and read it, his handsome face inscrutable.

"Interesting." He dropped the letter back on the table. "So I'm expected to shell out five million dollars and then everyone lives happily ever after? Have I got that right?"

She stared at him stunned, more than a little taken aback that he didn't seem more concerned for the welfare of his son. Still, at least now he'd seen the evidence, he'd know she was telling the truth.

'Do you think paying is the wrong approach? You think we should go to the police?" She looked at him anxiously and rubbed her fingers across her forehead, trying to ease the pain that pulsed behind her temples. She'd gone over and over it in her head so many times, trying to do the right thing. "I have thought about it, oviously, but you can see from the letter what he threatened to do if I spoke to the police. I know everyone always says you shouldn't pay blackmailers, but that's very easy to say when it isn't your child in danger and-" her voiced cracked "-and I can't play games with his life, Rai. He's everything I have."

She looked at the strong, hard lines of Rai's face and suddenly wanted him to step in and save her the way he'd saved her that first night they met. He was hard and ruthless and he had powerful connections and she knew instinctively that he would be able to handle this situation if e chose to. He could make it go away.

"I think involving the police would _not _be a good ieda." he assured her rising to his feet in a lithe, athletic movement and pacing across the office to the window.

_Did he finally believe her?_

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**Well, I hope that you find this chapter better? Sorry for the _year _long wait! XD**

**...**

**Fine, I laugh by myself then.**

**Please RXR!**

**Raimundo has finally believed Kimiko! Or has he? *evil laugh***

**...**

**Oh come on people, laugh with me!**

**Oh yeah the name for the son is Rio, haha, my sister saw me getting mad since I was failing at finding a name. Then she like, "Hey! Call him Rio!." Then she threatened to throw the taco she was eating at me if I didn't stop typing so loud... Why can't she go eat a taco in her room?**

**Anyway thanks to everyone else who reviews. Feel free to ask questions for spoilers, 'it's your choice to spoil it.' And I will private message you! So I don't ruin it for others! :)**

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Raimundo stilled and his dark eyes narrowed. "For five million dollars you'd do _absolutely _anything?"

_She'd failed._

"You want me to, what?"

"I am still interested in you Kimi."

He was born to get what he wants.

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**RXR!**


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